Hotel guest mail and message box



NOV. 10, 1953 5 MlRKlN 2,658,667

HOTEL GUEST MAIL. AND MESSAGE BOX Filed OC.. 17, 1950 .1H 'jf @if fffffz. ffqff IN V EN TOR.

Patented Nov. l0, 1953 OFFICE HOTEL GUEST MAIL AND vMESSAGE BOX Shol'emI. Mirkin, Johannesburg, Transvaal, Union of South Africa ApplicationOctober 17, 1950, Serial No. 190,567

1 Claim. l

This invention relates to hotel guest mail and message boxes, and themain object is the provision of certain new and useful improvements inthe construction, `assembling and positioning, as Well as in theoperation, of such boxes whereby greater convenience and less troubleresults for both the guests and the desk clerk.

The above broad as well as additional and more specific objects will beclarified in the following Idescription, wherein characters of referencerefer to like-numbered parts in the accompanying drawing. It is to benoted that the drawing is intended solely for the purpose ofillustration, and that itis therefore neither desired nor intended tolimit the invention necessarily to any or all of the exact details ofconstruction shown except insofar as they may Vbe deemed essential tothe invention.

Referring briefly to the drawing, Fig. 1 is a perspective View of anassemblage of hotel guest mail and message boxes, illustrating onemethod f providing the boxes for maximum convenience. f

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary perspective View of a portion of the boxassemblage of Fig. 1, with parts broken away and partly in section.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a sectional View taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a sectional View taken on the line 5 5 of Fig. 3.

Referring in detail to the drawing, the numeral I0 indicates a hoteldesk having, in the example illustrated, tiers II of boxes I2 mountedthereon with their fronts facing outward, as, for example, toward thehotel lobby. Each box I2 bears an appropriate number corresponding withthe number of a hotel room, on the front door I3 of the box. The boxesare dened in vertical depth by spaced horizontal walls I4, and in widthby spaced Vertical walls I5.

Each box I2 has a rear door I 6 hinged on a horizontal hinge I 1 on itslower edge to the floor Illa. The rear door I6 is further provided witha mail slot I3 having a ap or door I9 pivoted on a horizontal axis overthe top of the slot, on the inner side of the door.

The front door I3 is hinged on a Vertical hinge 2D to a side wall I5; inthe example shown, the door is hinged to the left-hand side wall I5. Thedoor I3 has a lock 2I, and the guest whose room bears the same number asthe box is given a key with which to lock or unlock the door I3.

A link 22 has its rear end pivoted to an ear 23 on the rear door I6 nearone edge of the latter, for instance, as shown, near the lowerright-hand corner. A bell crank 23 is pivotally mounted intermediate itslength against the right-hand wall I5 of the box, at 24. The forward endof the link 22 is pivoted to the rear arm of the bell crank at 25. Theforward arm 26 of the bell crank 23 is longer than the rea-rward arm 27thereof, and on its front extremity it is 'provided with a plug 28extending substantially at right angles thereto toward the adjacent WallI5. Intermediate the length of the arm 25 a hump or other enlargement 29is provided.

Positioned near the front door I3 intermediate the height of the box, arecess 38 is provided in the right-hand wall I5, at the same radialdistance .from the bell crank pivot 24 as the plug 28. A limit stop pin3l is suitably positioned and mounted against the same side wall I5, inthe path of the hump 29 when the bell crank swings counter-clockwise.

The bell crank 23 is formed of thin material possessing a degree ofresiliency so that its forward extremity, and hence the plug 28, iscon-Y tantly urged toward the right-hand wall I5, Fig.

When a guest is in his room, he of course has his room key 32 with him;the condition of his box under these circumstances is `shown by the boxI2a, Fig. 3, that is, the bell crank is in its extreme counter-clockwiseposition, the lp-lug 2d is clear of the recess 30 and presses againstthe wall I5, and the rear door I6 is open as far as it will go. Theclerk 'behind the desk, who faces the rear of the tiers Il of boxes I2,can thus see at a glance whether or not a guest is in his room, for whenthe guest is out the rear door I6 is closed, and when the guest is inhis room the rear door will be open as shown for the box I2a.

The box I2b, Fig. 3, illustrates the condition when the guest is out.His room key 32 is in the box, mounted on the crank arm 23, and the reardoor I6 is closed. In thus inserting the room key in the box, the guestrst pulls the plug 28 slightly out from the adjacent wall I5, a distancesuiiicient to enable passing of the key ring 33 over the plug and on tothe arm 26. This is shown in the box I2C, Fig. 3. Then, after his keyhas thus been mounted on the arm 26 (and obviously the ring 33 willslide down the arm as far as the hump 29), he pulls the arm 25 forward,thus swinging the bell crank 23 clockwise. Hence, the rear door is shut,as shown. He then locks the front door I3 with the box key, and the boxis left in the condition of the box l2b.

It is also clear in the illustration of the box 12a, Fig. 3, how theguest removes his room key when returning to the hotel. After openingthe front door, he pulls either on the arm 28 or on the key 32 to pullthe plug 28 out of its recess 30, then slips the key ring off the arm 26and over the plug, and nally pushes the arm 26 counter-clockwise to openthe rear door; then he locks the front door. It is to be noted thatWhenever the guests room key is in the box, the plug 28 registers in therecess 30 and thus locks the rear door in closed position.

Obviously, modications in form or structure may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit or scope of the invention.

It is to be noted that it may be desirable to provide means forautomatically urging the rear door IB into the partly open positionshown, for example, in Fig. 2. For this purpose the hinge l1 may beprovided with a coiled spring I'la. Since spring hinges of this type arecommon on the market, no other representation of the spring than thatshown at lla in Fig. 4, is believed necessary.

As an alternative mode of operation and utilization of the invention, anautomatic closing of the rear door I6 may be achieved, with inclusion ofthe hinge spring l'ia. If it is assumed, and of course such relationshipof the various parts is readily attainable, that the door I8 is ofsufciently light-weight construction, that the spring lla is of suitabletension, and that the combined weight of the key 32 and key ring 33 areof the proper degree, then, with the door originally open as shown inFig. 3 at |20., if the key ring is passed only on to the plug 28, theadded weight thereof will cause the lever 23 to swing clockwise aboutits pivot until the plug enters the recess 30. This of course alsoassumes a proper distribution of the weights of the link 32 and the arm21 of the crank 23. Conversely, when the key is removed and the plug 28is thus disengaged from the recess 30 and moved slightly rearward clearof the recess 30, the force of the spring lla Will cause the rear doorI6 to open and thus move the crank 23 into the position shown at I2a,Fig. 3.

I claim:

A box including a oor and a side wall, said box having a rear door, ahorizontal hinge securing said rear door to the rear edge of said floor,a link pivoted at one end to said rear door, a bell crank pivoted tosaid side wall, the other end of said link being pivoted to one arm ofsaid crank, the other arm of said crank extending toward and terminatingnear the front of the box, said link and crank lying in substantiallyparallel planes positioned close to said side wall and parallel withsaid side wall, said side Wall having a recess therein positioned at thesame radial distance from the pivot of the bell crank as the outerextremity of said other arm, said other arm having a plug on said outerextremity at right angles thereto and of greater length than thedistance between said other arm and said wall, said crank comprisingrelatively thin material possessing inherent resiliency thereby normallyurgingl said plug against said wall and when said plug'is in alignmentwith said recess urging said plug into said recess, said link having alength such that when said plug is in alignment with said recess saidrear door is closed, said rear door being opened by extracting said plugfrom said recess and swinging said other arm in the general direction ofsaid rear door, limit stop means limiting the arc of said swinging andhence the degree of opening of said rear door, said other arm beingadapted to have a key ring slipped thereon.

SHOLEM I. MIRKIN.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 410,379 Rosenthal Sept. 3, 1889 410,990 Raymond Sept. 10, 1889736,714 Gendron Aug. 18, 1903 802,979 English Oct. 31, 1905 1,038,583Hodgkinson Sept. 17, 1912 1,735,379 Content Nov. 12, 1929

